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Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Sacred Fire of Holika Dahan: Choti Holi

A Photo Essay on the Ritual of Holika Dahan on the Choti Holi day (one day prior to Dhuleti/Dhulendi/Color Day/Dhuli Vandana) :-

8 March 2012:

On the Phalgun Purnima or the full moon night of the Hindu calendar month of Phalgun,

A bonfire is made up of dried leaves, logs of wood, old wooden furniture, cardboard and other combustible material piled up in a heap.

People of the society and nearby areas come together to be a part of the tradition. Somewhere at around 9 PM in the dark of the night, the bonfire is ceremoniously ignited brightly illuminating the entire arena.

Incense sticks and oil lamps are lighted, offerings of new seasonal grains like wheat and barley are made.

The fire, an image of success of good over evil, is then circumambulated three times with slow pouring of water from a container.

Prayers for peace, happiness, prosperity and a better future are made.

Past animosities are buried; hatred and anger give way to new hopes, wishes and aspirations. It's a silent tranquil time... time to reflect and delve deep... within..

Sacred ash and coconuts are collected as prasad marking the culmination of an age old tradition – Holika Dahan;

... the holiness from the billowing fumes continue to linger around till the next festival year.

--- HAPPYHOLI ---

If you wish to read more on the festival of colors - Holi in detail, kindly check out this link -

59 comments:

Good description of Holika Dahan.We should take every care for not destroying the trees and plants unnecessary and prevent to pollute the atmosphere.Holika Dehan may becelebrated keeping in mind all the positivity and remembering the profound devotion of Prahlaadin God,who proved the fact thatspirit[aatma} can't be destroyedby fire or anything else.

Its been so many years since I was part of Choti holi! holi itself is one of the few festivals i dont participate in, so when i was younger, we had holika dahan in our colony, and i would eagerly participate in that, knowing very well that i would locked up securely inside my house the next day!!! thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories!

Another fascinating post and wonderful captures, Arti! And once again I get to learn more about your wonderful country! Thank you for sharing! Have a beautiful weekend! Thank you for your kind words regarding my daughter!

Used to be an integral part of my childhood holi celebration .A big thanks to you for posting this .I just showed this post to my kids to make them understand holika dahan as it is not observed here in Assam .Next year we are planning to do it .Happy Weekend.

Beautiful bonfire! I see the fire nymphs dancing in the fire. Not only the fire but also the streaming light is fascinating in your photos, Arti. A ceremony related to fire has been conducted and will end in 15th here in Nara. Huge torches give forth the dancing and sparkling balls of fire. It is said spring is come when the ceremony is over. Have happy and peaceful days ahead.

Hi,Arti.It is first time for me to know that sacred festival taken place on the full moon in your beautiful country. I can see how quietly the tradition goes on through your many photos.Thank you for sharing!Have a great week ahead.Tomoko

I enjoyed hearing about your tradition of the festival Holi - such a wonderful time praying for peace, happiness and prosperity and a better future. It is what the whole world needs to do, instead of all the wars and unrest. Thank you for sharing and hope you have a lovely new week

Traditional rituals or events involving fire are familiar here. Like stardust writes, here in Nara, we are having the torch fire ceremony, which has been held without interruption since 752.Like yours, it has aimed at purification, cleansing of previous sins and prayer for peace, welfare and good health of the people.Thank you for introducing this holy tradition.

belated happy holi , it is such a wonderful festival. I miss it here as in south it is not celebrated at all !! but anyway in life it is the spirit of holi that we have to live. You blog is one of the colors that fill my life with joy. I was also reading your earlier article about the tulasi plant and actually I moved into a new house and I have just planted a tulasi.I am going through the same excitement waiting for the plant to grow from the soil : ) Keep sharing your wonderful posts

Hi :-) so nice to see that you used all scrap wood for the holika dahan. I am all for tradition but not the destruction of the environment in its guise. Do check out my post on Holika Dahan http://ssnab.blogspot.in/2012/03/mother-natures-pyre.html

My dear ArtiI like so much the traditions!Your photos are wonderful!And light fires in Greece twice a year. It's custom.One is of St. John, lit small fires in their neighborhoods and jump over the fire for a blessing. And another great fire, put it at Easter, to burn the effigy of Judas.I thank you for the beautiful pictures you, learn the customs of your country!many greetings

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